December 11, 2019 • 13 mins
What's the difference between whisky and bourbon? We'll tell you if you care to listen.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, and welcome to be Short Stuff. This is Josh,
there's Chuck, there's Jerry. Let's get going with this edition
of Short Stuff about the difference between whiskey and bourbon.
Let's just talk. Yeah, you know, for someone who loves
this stuff, I really didn't know a lot about it,
and I'm glad I do know. Yeah, there was a
really big fact that we're going to get to that
(00:24):
just knocked my socks clean off. Man. Yeah, well, I'll
I guess just watch my feet and you'll smell something.
Are your socks off? Hey, my feet do not smell.
To take great pride in there, all right, So we'll
go ahead and tell you what whiskey is. Whiskey is
a distilled spirit that you make from grain, right, that
(00:47):
is not distilled higher than one hundred and ninety proof,
and it is exposed to oak as in, you know,
sits in an oak container. That's whiskey. That's whiskey. If
it's higher than one kindy, then you're not making whiskey.
You're making what you would call a neutral spirit like vodka. Yeah,
that's whiskey. So around the world, if you have Japanese whiskey, yum.
(01:10):
If you have Irish whiskey, great Scotch whiskey delicious? Why not? Um,
They're they're like all of those whiskeys follow that same
general those same general guidelines, or meet the same general criteria.
And I don't believe there's too many um like laws
or anything restricting types of whiskey. I'm sure there are
(01:32):
in Scotland. But we're talking about America in this episode,
and when you get to America from what what From
what we've seen, we have like the most strict, extensive
laws detailing what can be considered a type of whiskey
any of anywhere in the world. Yeah, it's very much
regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, right,
(01:54):
not the a t F. No, they those firearms still
mix with whiskey, very not. Even though I said a
t F three times, I think you called out something
that nobody heard. It's like he just reached out from
a different dimension. I saw a funny tweet the other
day that's been going around that says the closest you
(02:15):
will come to knowing what it's like to be a
ghost is uh. Something was something like yelling at podcasters
who are trying to think of something that you know,
that's amazing, that's great. I have that same experience as
a listener. So uh, yes, not the A T F,
the A T T T B. If you want to
(02:36):
be labeled whiskey in America, you've got to be aged
in new charred oak containers or barrels, and you have
to have a certain percentage of grain. Like if you're
making rye, it has to be rye, and then so
to be whiskey anywhere in the world, it has to
be aged in oak. But for specifically an American straight whiskey,
(02:59):
like a American straight rye whiskey, it has to be
aged in a charred oak either barrel or container of
some sort, but it has to be charred inside first
for at least two years. Yes, and it all has
to come from the same state as to be still
distilled in the same state. Right, So I mean that's it.
That's the law as far as an American straight whiskey goes.
(03:21):
And there's plenty of whiskeys that you know follow that
that tradition or those laws, I guess, and um, it
gets even stricter though, like if you add a couple
more caveats to it, A couple more restrictions, a few
more criteria, you suddenly have bourbon. Bourbon pops out of
the mix. That's right. So if you want to be bourbon,
(03:42):
you have to be corn, and it has to be
aged in new charred oak barrels or containers. Right, But
also when you um, when you distill it. Yeah, that
was right. Yeah, I just referred to another edit we
took out it. Uh, it can't be distilled at anything
higher than one sixty proof, that's right, because remember we
(04:03):
said one ninety for whiskey. Bourbon is down to one six, right,
and that's just the distillation. When they start to age it,
they have to drop it down even further I believe,
to something like one forty, and that they just do
that with watering it down, literally watering it down, right, Yeah,
they literally water down I think one forty and then
they put it in charred oak barrels for I believe
(04:24):
four years for bourbon. That's right. So the very popular saying, um,
all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon
is very much true, and that's why that's the case.
So bourbon is corn at least doesn't go higher than
one sixty proof and his play in his Charred in
Earth's Aged and Charred Oak barrels below on proof yep,
(04:49):
And so now watch my socks, Chuck. Okay, you you
might be saying, hey, guys, you left out probably the
most important part. It has to be made in Bourbon County, Kentucky,
or at least Kentucky. Well, friend, you'd be wrong on
both parts, because bourbon can be made anywhere in the States.
How did you think it had to be Kentucky? Yes, oh,
(05:09):
I didn't know that. Well, that explains why I didn't
know your right, did you say it was more of
a curl and they're actually knocking off? Yeah? All right, Yeah,
that's what I thought for a very very long time.
But now you can make it anywhere. And in fact,
in nineteen Congress declared bourbon as quote America's native spirit.
(05:31):
So Congress like bourbon. Alright, well, we like e takey break,
and we're gonna go do that right now and talk
about Tennessee whiskey. And I think you know what we're
talking about right after this, all right, Chuck, He said,
(06:11):
they think we know what we're talking about. We think
we know we think we think they know what we're
talking about. Yeah, if you're talking Tennessee whiskey, there are
plenty of Tennessee whiskeys. But we'll just go ahead and
say the words Jack and Daniel. I was gonna say, Yeah,
that's what I was gonna say, Tennessee whiskey. You think
(06:32):
Jack Daniels, I mean, it says Tennessee right on the label.
But it turns out that Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey, which
is a straight American whiskey. Um, you'd think that that
it's the only kind. It's not. That's actually Jack Daniels
follows a specific process, a set of criterion very similar
to the same set of criteria that bourbon goes through.
(06:53):
In fact, Jack Daniels Tennessee American straight whiskey follows the
same process that bourbon making does, and in fact qualifies
as a bourbon. But then they add an extra step,
and that's what makes it a Tennessee whiskey. That's right.
We should point out that they go all the way
down to a hundred and forty proof just as a
company rule, and they always age in new charred oak barrels,
(07:18):
and which it goes in at proof or below. But
then that extra step you were talking about is what
they like to tout as the special ingredient. That special
magic is charcoal mellowing. Yeah, and it's actually another name
for it is the Lincoln County process, after Lincoln County, Tennessee,
which is where Jack Daniels Distillery used to be. But basically,
(07:40):
they take huge stacks of maplewood logs and set them
on fire, and then some guy stands there with a
hose and keeps it from like raging too much, and
they turn that wood into charcoal. Then they take that charcoal,
they pack it tightly into vats, and then they poured
the distilled, unaged whiskey into those vats, and that charcoal
(08:01):
kind of filters out some of the impurities. Yeah, and
so you're thinking, well, it goes in clear and it
comes out brown because of that charcoal. Yeah, that's totally wrong.
And in fact, it's a little bit like you're used
to these brown liquors if you've ever had like a
clear rye or something. It's a little bit of a
mind tease. Yeah, that's not what you're gonna say, but yes,
(08:23):
you know what I mean. Agreed, Agreed, it needs to
be brown and the reason it is brown, I believe.
Of course, I have a terrible reputation on short stuff
for just saying stuff off hand. It's totally wrong. But
I believe it becomes brown from the charred oak um
aging process. I think that's right. Right, So I can't
(08:44):
teach that. Okay, men, that whole um key West thing
about the necrophile who dug who kept his wife around.
But it wasn't his wife, it was some woman that
he really he stalked as a creeper. Oh yeah, we've
been getting a lot of emails, so sorry everybody, We'll
have to read a listener mail about it or something.
(09:04):
All right, Well, they basically like in this whole process too.
You know, if you've ever used a water filter. Um,
they have charcoal in there, and it's sort of a
similar concept. The whiskey comes out the same color as
that goes in at this point, which is clear. Um.
And this is what makes Jack Daniel different than the rest.
They're the ones who use that Lincoln County process, right. Um,
(09:28):
So that's a different type of whiskey. That's Tennessee whiskey.
There's bourbon, and technically Jack Daniels qualifies as a bourbon
and um Bourbon stripped of a couple of steps would
be an American straight whiskey. And there you have it.
That's whiskey's There's one other fact though that um I
had no idea about, but I thought it was a
nice little touch to add it to this article. I
(09:50):
think you've got this article from house to works, right, Yeah,
are you talking about the East? Oh? No, there's two facts. Everybody. Well,
I mean, if you wonder why different whiskeys, you know,
you think, well, maybe they should all taste the same.
You know, the ingredients are different depending on where you
get the the initial ingredients that might taste different. Uh.
And during the fermentation process you're you're using, depending on
(10:14):
what kind of yeast to use, that's really going to
fleck the favor the favor like that. What is going
on with us today? I don't know. It's silly, silly
short stuff Thursday. But UM at Jack Daniel they use
a yeast that they've been using the whole time. So
they have this mother culture that they say dates back
to prohibition and they've been using the same mother culture.
(10:34):
They grow it in their lab every day and they're like,
that's why, you know, you get that special taste mother culture.
It's a great band name. Oh it is UM. So yeah,
so the yus makes of a difference. But certainly, like
even if you use the same exact yeast, if you
stick that yeast on rye or corn mash, it's gonna
produce a totally different flavor anyway. So all these different
(10:55):
steps and different ingredients produce these different flavored whiskeys. The
other fact that I UM was surprised but also heartened
to see is that apparently women tend to appreciate higher
proof whiskeys and bourbons than UM men do. And supposedly
there's a woman named Carrie Richardson who's president of the
(11:16):
Bourbon Women's Association in Louisville, Kentucky, who believes that it's
because women apparently have a UM larger old factory center
than men, and so they're they're picking up more on
all this stuff that's going on in these whiskey bottles
than men do. And so the higher the proof, the
more stuff that's going on in there, and women tend
(11:36):
to appreciate that more. Pretty neat. It is pretty neat.
And I did a rare phone look up during recording
than of course there's a band called Mother Culture at
least one good good for them. See they listened to
us in the past a bunch of long hairs. That's
exactly right. There's no way it was anything, but you know,
a long hair band. Um. So one other question, Chuck,
(11:57):
do you like the firewater whiskey? Do you like smooth
or whiskey or both as in higher proof? Yeah, but
you know the kind that's like you can really feel,
like go all the way down your chest or the
smooth sipping whiskey I like. I like both. I like
the firewater because I drink it a little slower. Um.
I had a I had a big night out on Tuesday, Uh,
(12:20):
Emily and I went to see a band and I
got into the whiskey a little bit and it was just,
you know, it was a bullet and it was just
going down so smooth. That's the danger, you know, you
drink it too fast. And I found myself little hammered
on Tuesday night. Yeah, but you're not gonna, you know,
drink like high proof whiskey that's meant to just be
(12:40):
nipped at at like a show. You know, you're right,
were you drinking it just on the rocks. Nice. Well,
I'm glad you has there another way at a show? Yeah,
like with coke or something? Yeah, not cokes already sweet
maybe bitters and just club soda because sure, I mean,
I guess I could have. I could have done that,
(13:01):
but I didn't get the impression they had that kind
of stuff at this venue. I got you. Yeah, all right,
Well that's it. Huh, that's it. That's it for short stuff.
As we said, that's it. Stuff you should know is
a production of iHeart Radios. How Stuff Works. For more
podcasts For my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
(13:26):
H
Hello, and welcome to be Short Stuff. This is Josh,
there's Chuck, there's Jerry. Let's get going with this edition
of Short Stuff about the difference between whiskey and bourbon.
Let's just talk. Yeah, you know, for someone who loves
this stuff, I really didn't know a lot about it,
and I'm glad I do know. Yeah, there was a
really big fact that we're going to get to that
(00:24):
just knocked my socks clean off. Man. Yeah, well, I'll
I guess just watch my feet and you'll smell something.
Are your socks off? Hey, my feet do not smell.
To take great pride in there, all right, So we'll
go ahead and tell you what whiskey is. Whiskey is
a distilled spirit that you make from grain, right, that
(00:47):
is not distilled higher than one hundred and ninety proof,
and it is exposed to oak as in, you know,
sits in an oak container. That's whiskey. That's whiskey. If
it's higher than one kindy, then you're not making whiskey.
You're making what you would call a neutral spirit like vodka. Yeah,
that's whiskey. So around the world, if you have Japanese whiskey, yum.
(01:10):
If you have Irish whiskey, great Scotch whiskey delicious? Why not? Um,
They're they're like all of those whiskeys follow that same
general those same general guidelines, or meet the same general criteria.
And I don't believe there's too many um like laws
or anything restricting types of whiskey. I'm sure there are
(01:32):
in Scotland. But we're talking about America in this episode,
and when you get to America from what what From
what we've seen, we have like the most strict, extensive
laws detailing what can be considered a type of whiskey
any of anywhere in the world. Yeah, it's very much
regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, right,
(01:54):
not the a t F. No, they those firearms still
mix with whiskey, very not. Even though I said a
t F three times, I think you called out something
that nobody heard. It's like he just reached out from
a different dimension. I saw a funny tweet the other
day that's been going around that says the closest you
(02:15):
will come to knowing what it's like to be a
ghost is uh. Something was something like yelling at podcasters
who are trying to think of something that you know,
that's amazing, that's great. I have that same experience as
a listener. So uh, yes, not the A T F,
the A T T T B. If you want to
(02:36):
be labeled whiskey in America, you've got to be aged
in new charred oak containers or barrels, and you have
to have a certain percentage of grain. Like if you're
making rye, it has to be rye, and then so
to be whiskey anywhere in the world, it has to
be aged in oak. But for specifically an American straight whiskey,
(02:59):
like a American straight rye whiskey, it has to be
aged in a charred oak either barrel or container of
some sort, but it has to be charred inside first
for at least two years. Yes, and it all has
to come from the same state as to be still
distilled in the same state. Right, So I mean that's it.
That's the law as far as an American straight whiskey goes.
(03:21):
And there's plenty of whiskeys that you know follow that
that tradition or those laws, I guess, and um, it
gets even stricter though, like if you add a couple
more caveats to it, A couple more restrictions, a few
more criteria, you suddenly have bourbon. Bourbon pops out of
the mix. That's right. So if you want to be bourbon,
(03:42):
you have to be corn, and it has to be
aged in new charred oak barrels or containers. Right, But
also when you um, when you distill it. Yeah, that
was right. Yeah, I just referred to another edit we
took out it. Uh, it can't be distilled at anything
higher than one sixty proof, that's right, because remember we
(04:03):
said one ninety for whiskey. Bourbon is down to one six, right,
and that's just the distillation. When they start to age it,
they have to drop it down even further I believe,
to something like one forty, and that they just do
that with watering it down, literally watering it down, right, Yeah,
they literally water down I think one forty and then
they put it in charred oak barrels for I believe
(04:24):
four years for bourbon. That's right. So the very popular saying, um,
all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon
is very much true, and that's why that's the case.
So bourbon is corn at least doesn't go higher than
one sixty proof and his play in his Charred in
Earth's Aged and Charred Oak barrels below on proof yep,
(04:49):
And so now watch my socks, Chuck. Okay, you you
might be saying, hey, guys, you left out probably the
most important part. It has to be made in Bourbon County, Kentucky,
or at least Kentucky. Well, friend, you'd be wrong on
both parts, because bourbon can be made anywhere in the States.
How did you think it had to be Kentucky? Yes, oh,
(05:09):
I didn't know that. Well, that explains why I didn't
know your right, did you say it was more of
a curl and they're actually knocking off? Yeah? All right, Yeah,
that's what I thought for a very very long time.
But now you can make it anywhere. And in fact,
in nineteen Congress declared bourbon as quote America's native spirit.
(05:31):
So Congress like bourbon. Alright, well, we like e takey break,
and we're gonna go do that right now and talk
about Tennessee whiskey. And I think you know what we're
talking about right after this, all right, Chuck, He said,
(06:11):
they think we know what we're talking about. We think
we know we think we think they know what we're
talking about. Yeah, if you're talking Tennessee whiskey, there are
plenty of Tennessee whiskeys. But we'll just go ahead and
say the words Jack and Daniel. I was gonna say, Yeah,
that's what I was gonna say, Tennessee whiskey. You think
(06:32):
Jack Daniels, I mean, it says Tennessee right on the label.
But it turns out that Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey, which
is a straight American whiskey. Um, you'd think that that
it's the only kind. It's not. That's actually Jack Daniels
follows a specific process, a set of criterion very similar
to the same set of criteria that bourbon goes through.
(06:53):
In fact, Jack Daniels Tennessee American straight whiskey follows the
same process that bourbon making does, and in fact qualifies
as a bourbon. But then they add an extra step,
and that's what makes it a Tennessee whiskey. That's right.
We should point out that they go all the way
down to a hundred and forty proof just as a
company rule, and they always age in new charred oak barrels,
(07:18):
and which it goes in at proof or below. But
then that extra step you were talking about is what
they like to tout as the special ingredient. That special
magic is charcoal mellowing. Yeah, and it's actually another name
for it is the Lincoln County process, after Lincoln County, Tennessee,
which is where Jack Daniels Distillery used to be. But basically,
(07:40):
they take huge stacks of maplewood logs and set them
on fire, and then some guy stands there with a
hose and keeps it from like raging too much, and
they turn that wood into charcoal. Then they take that charcoal,
they pack it tightly into vats, and then they poured
the distilled, unaged whiskey into those vats, and that charcoal
(08:01):
kind of filters out some of the impurities. Yeah, and
so you're thinking, well, it goes in clear and it
comes out brown because of that charcoal. Yeah, that's totally wrong.
And in fact, it's a little bit like you're used
to these brown liquors if you've ever had like a
clear rye or something. It's a little bit of a
mind tease. Yeah, that's not what you're gonna say, but yes,
(08:23):
you know what I mean. Agreed, Agreed, it needs to
be brown and the reason it is brown, I believe.
Of course, I have a terrible reputation on short stuff
for just saying stuff off hand. It's totally wrong. But
I believe it becomes brown from the charred oak um
aging process. I think that's right. Right, So I can't
(08:44):
teach that. Okay, men, that whole um key West thing
about the necrophile who dug who kept his wife around.
But it wasn't his wife, it was some woman that
he really he stalked as a creeper. Oh yeah, we've
been getting a lot of emails, so sorry everybody, We'll
have to read a listener mail about it or something.
(09:04):
All right, Well, they basically like in this whole process too.
You know, if you've ever used a water filter. Um,
they have charcoal in there, and it's sort of a
similar concept. The whiskey comes out the same color as
that goes in at this point, which is clear. Um.
And this is what makes Jack Daniel different than the rest.
They're the ones who use that Lincoln County process, right. Um,
(09:28):
So that's a different type of whiskey. That's Tennessee whiskey.
There's bourbon, and technically Jack Daniels qualifies as a bourbon
and um Bourbon stripped of a couple of steps would
be an American straight whiskey. And there you have it.
That's whiskey's There's one other fact though that um I
had no idea about, but I thought it was a
nice little touch to add it to this article. I
(09:50):
think you've got this article from house to works, right, Yeah,
are you talking about the East? Oh? No, there's two facts. Everybody. Well,
I mean, if you wonder why different whiskeys, you know,
you think, well, maybe they should all taste the same.
You know, the ingredients are different depending on where you
get the the initial ingredients that might taste different. Uh.
And during the fermentation process you're you're using, depending on
(10:14):
what kind of yeast to use, that's really going to
fleck the favor the favor like that. What is going
on with us today? I don't know. It's silly, silly
short stuff Thursday. But UM at Jack Daniel they use
a yeast that they've been using the whole time. So
they have this mother culture that they say dates back
to prohibition and they've been using the same mother culture.
(10:34):
They grow it in their lab every day and they're like,
that's why, you know, you get that special taste mother culture.
It's a great band name. Oh it is UM. So yeah,
so the yus makes of a difference. But certainly, like
even if you use the same exact yeast, if you
stick that yeast on rye or corn mash, it's gonna
produce a totally different flavor anyway. So all these different
(10:55):
steps and different ingredients produce these different flavored whiskeys. The
other fact that I UM was surprised but also heartened
to see is that apparently women tend to appreciate higher
proof whiskeys and bourbons than UM men do. And supposedly
there's a woman named Carrie Richardson who's president of the
(11:16):
Bourbon Women's Association in Louisville, Kentucky, who believes that it's
because women apparently have a UM larger old factory center
than men, and so they're they're picking up more on
all this stuff that's going on in these whiskey bottles
than men do. And so the higher the proof, the
more stuff that's going on in there, and women tend
(11:36):
to appreciate that more. Pretty neat. It is pretty neat.
And I did a rare phone look up during recording
than of course there's a band called Mother Culture at
least one good good for them. See they listened to
us in the past a bunch of long hairs. That's
exactly right. There's no way it was anything, but you know,
a long hair band. Um. So one other question, Chuck,
(11:57):
do you like the firewater whiskey? Do you like smooth
or whiskey or both as in higher proof? Yeah, but
you know the kind that's like you can really feel,
like go all the way down your chest or the
smooth sipping whiskey I like. I like both. I like
the firewater because I drink it a little slower. Um.
I had a I had a big night out on Tuesday, Uh,
(12:20):
Emily and I went to see a band and I
got into the whiskey a little bit and it was just,
you know, it was a bullet and it was just
going down so smooth. That's the danger, you know, you
drink it too fast. And I found myself little hammered
on Tuesday night. Yeah, but you're not gonna, you know,
drink like high proof whiskey that's meant to just be
(12:40):
nipped at at like a show. You know, you're right,
were you drinking it just on the rocks. Nice. Well,
I'm glad you has there another way at a show? Yeah,
like with coke or something? Yeah, not cokes already sweet
maybe bitters and just club soda because sure, I mean,
I guess I could have. I could have done that,
(13:01):
but I didn't get the impression they had that kind
of stuff at this venue. I got you. Yeah, all right,
Well that's it. Huh, that's it. That's it for short stuff.
As we said, that's it. Stuff you should know is
a production of iHeart Radios. How Stuff Works. For more
podcasts For my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
(13:26):
H
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